Vol. 7, Issue 1, Part G (2025)

Disability is usually understood from the point of view of the medical model of disability, which regards it as a deficiency that has to be treated or corrected in some way. This view perpetuates ableism - a socio-political system that privileges those individuals who are capable of fulfilling the expected social roles and performances. Mass media, especially cinema, has a significant role in the construction and propagation of disability stereotypes. Hollywood movies present disabled people in black and white roles: they are either pitiable victims who are unable to overcome their disabilities or inspirational “supercrips” who defy all odds to achieve greatness. These representations lead to unrealistic expectations and propagate the notion that disabled people must either get cured or prove their worth through extraordinary efforts. One such film that exemplifies these stereotypes is Stronger (2017), the real-life story of Jeff Bauman, a double amputee who survived the Boston Marathon bombing. This paper will analyse the portrayal of disability in Stronger, directed by David Gordon Green and how the society and the media try to make Bauman, perform his life rather than live it for himself. The study looks at the compulsion exerted by the ableist society to confine disabled identities into stereotypes. It also analyses the pressures of becoming a supercrip and the limited choices that amputees like Bauman have in an ableist society.